Her Private Life (2019)

This show is a solid 5.5 on a good day or else it should definitely be less. I’m not with people that say she was too old to be a fan girl. It’s not the fangirling that makes this show a fail. I found myself fast forwarding through most of the episodes because the content was just dull.
Two attractive leads does not make a rom-com. CONTENT matters. I was able to quickly guess who was who and what the relationship was from the get go so the mystery was out. The love triangles were unimaginative. I couldn’t find anything exciting to look forward to from episode to episode.

Music was unmemorable. You know how you hear a song and it reminds you about a certain sweet or sad or tragic or some sort of moment? You are instantly transported to that scene and you can picture it and remember the dialogue very well? Well none of that here. I can’t tell you whether it’s because the music wasn’t that impressive or the drama was just not memorable, that you’ll have to decide on your own.

Now I’ll say the show has it’s funny, cute, a handful of decent lines moments. There was no toxic relationship so that was a plus. The acting is good as well, but none of this was able to save this show.
After What’s Wrong with Secretary Kim, I expected more from Park Min Young. This bland, sporadically cute/funny project was not what I expect her to land on.

It would have been tolerable if it had ended on episode 14 but the additional unnecessary plot to stretch it to episode 16 left me even more dejected. Is there some unwritten rule that says there has to be some childhood connection for couple to be faithed that this has to be a throp in every other drama? (you’ll understand what I’m saying when you reach episode 14/15)

Personally, l’d say an overall 4.5 rating but I tend to be generous so i’m upping it to 5.

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If this was my first drama I'd rate it 10/10! But because I had watched so many dramas already I must agree with people who said that the part where they were children in the past and meeting each other again cliche is overplayed. I think this drama would have been completely fine without it in fact even beter. (This is where it got points deducted from me)

Overall it was a very fun drama, it sent me into a fantasy world where I see everything I dreamed of, an ideal world. Basically the romance is perfect and out of this realisic world.

My favourite moments other than when ml were on screen, were when Cindy's mom said 'ohmygosh' or even if she just showed up, I knew sth funny was about to happen.

In my opinion the ending was rushed is some ways or certain things were completely unnecesarry.

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From Why Secretary Kim to My Stranger Hero and now Her Private Life it seems like my kdrama rom-com slump is finally over. I say slump since for few years I didn’t really enjoy those rom-coms like I used to, and I didn’t really write any reviews for those dramas.

Her Private Life went in a bit of a circle for me. I wasn’t too keen on it at first. I wasn’t a fan of the humor and the whole fangirl aspect of it wasn’t really doing it for me, even if I consider myself a fangirl myself (just not that much like Deok Mi).

It wasn’t until the romance really kicked in, with all the fake dating shenanigans - one of my fav rom-com tropes ever - that I almost sold my soul to this drama for a few weeks.

The drama toned down the humor and sort of became sweeter and light, which I enjoyed. I really liked all the pining in the beginng and the start of the relationship. It was very predictable at times, but I could not get enough.

I would personally have wanted more depth into the whole fangirl business and the whole culture of that. More focus on Deok Mi and Cindy - which was one of the more interesting side characters in the drama - and them finding a balance in their fangirl activities. Not just the worry about how Ryan would react to Deok Mi being a fangirl.

For a drama about the private life of a fansite manager and all of that, I expected more of the plot to revolve around that and not about the family drama of Ryan Gold.

The success with this drama, with me and other, is kinda thanks to the actors and how well they played these characters. They had very nice chemistry together. Deok Mi and Ryan was the sweetest couple and treated each other with such a respect and tenderness. It was wonderful.

There was not a whole lot of conflict in this drama, even if it used some very well known tropes in it story lines that usually really amps up the conflict. The characters sat down and talk things through, which I really liked. I thought that was sweet and I like how things didn’t drag too much.

But that also left the story kinda conflict-less and therefore not a whole lot happened toward the end. It slowly ran out of story to tell. If you are going to have such a non-conflict like story then you kinda have to fill it with side characters and plots that make the story a bit more exciting.

The romance, as sweet as it was, wasn’t always enough. Especially when some of the side characters and their stories were really not fun at all. The ending suffered a bit from this, in my opinion. The story was over before the drama was over and I was starting to fast-forward through certain scenes.

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a masterpiece and a must watch

How can all the characters of a single drama be so cute it is amazing Sian then Huijin and even FL are so cute I just am squeeeling every time I see them.

I loved the ost it is the 2nd soundtrack with every song on my playlist which is amazing.

The bond between the leads amazing
The story unique
The background wow
The characters Beautiful and cute

I am in love with this story and tbh I am watching it a second time and decided to write a review for this masterpiece

End review- Must Watch

I am deducting that 1 mark cause tbh the past trauma thing with the dead brother is unnecessary and quite sudden I got all the painting connecting but that memory loss was unnecessary

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Enjoyable but a little too contrived and drawn out

My feelings on this show are overall positive, but I still think that there are elements that feel too artificial and the length is a tad too long. I was only able to complete this drama the second time I attempted to watch it. The first time, I dropped it after the first episode because I couldn't handle how outrageous Duk Mi's fangirling was. After a second watch, I still feel it is a little too over-the-top and contributes to an inconsistent feeling. To me, the idea of the story was intriguing, but unfortunately, I don't feel it was executed to a satisfying level.

The show starts by establishing the essential plot element that Duk Mi is a hardcore kpop fangirl - not just a fan, a hardddddddcore fan girl. She's the webmaster of a fan site, has a ridiculous camera/ladder/privacy outfit, and her self-proclaimed, only hobby is following Si An of the fictional White Ocean. It's definitely an intriguing premise, but I personally found it extremely cringeworthy, even beyond just the feeling of secondhand embarrassment. Furthermore, the amount of effort she would have to expend to keep up her activities and fan knowledge in real life, far exceed the time required to form a real, adult career and maintain real, adult responsibilities, so I found it a little too unrealistic. My biggest complaint was how her fangirling personality was shoved to the side once she started a real relationship with Ryan Gold/started to explore their relationship. She suddenly shifted from a "giddy fangirl" personality to just a "reasonable Kpop fan who has a real boyfriend in real life". I couldn't buy this character change either, as up to that point, she had proven herself to be so immersed that she lacked self-restraint in certain situations.

Furthermore, I found some story beats too convenient such that they ended up just feeling super contrived. Eun Gi is Duk Mi's brother, but wait, actually he's not, he was adopted. He loves Duk Mi for real, as in he wants her to be his girlfriend, but wait she doesn't feel the same back, so he's just going to ignore it and go back to being besties-only. Ryan Gold is a foreigner who looks like a Korean and speaks Korean really well. But wait, actually he's secretly childhood friends with Duk Mi and lived with her family for a month when his mom accidentally abandoned him because she got into a serious car accident but ended up recovering. And also, Duk Mi doesn't remember anything because of trauma (and by the way she has a younger brother who died), but wait she suddenly remembers after a short conversation with her father. And Ryan Gold remembers everything too after easily piecing together dreams that he had. Oh and did I mention that Ryan Gold is secretly the brother of Si An?

I could go on, but suffice it to say, I think the artificial-feel of the story is the weakest point of the show. It gets particularly weak near the end, when the main leads have already gotten together already and it's clear the show is just looking for more ways to fabricate more watch time.

In contrast, the production of everything else is what makes me elevate this to a net-positive score. As is usual in a lot of Korean shows, I found the acting to be excellent. The OST was not my cup of tea, but I could definitely sense its high production value. The visuals are gorgeous and speaking towards the actors, as a male viewer, I saw Park Min Young as beautiful as usual, having that stereotypical girly, girl allure. I could tell Kim Jae Wook has that confident, sexy allure as well, for our female fans. Some of the comedy is well done, having that "funny because it's cringy" feel to it. You also grow to enjoy the side characters, even the sort-of-villain-turned ally of Cindy, who even has her own character arc.

Of special note, even though I couldn't totally buy Duk Mi's transformation from only-fan girl to someone else's girlfriend, her relationship with Ryan Gold was surprisingly refreshing in that it had very limited K-melodrama tropes. They respected each other throughout their relationship. Even when they were fighting about things, they sat down and talked about it. There were no ridiculous misunderstandings. The only thing that was contrived was the "amnesia-childhood-friends-relationship". But other than that, it seemed by all accounts a healthy, mature, adult relationship.

Overall, for me, this show was kind of an "OK way to pass the time". I don't hate nor regret that I watched it, but I don't see any elements of this that will make me want to go back and rewatch it.

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Lembro um pouco como foi no seu lançamento, muitos falavam dele de forma positiva, nem sei por que não vi na época, mas de todo caso é um drama que vale a pena de ser visto se estiver procurando um casal maduro e bem resolvido, que não há espaço para egocentrismo e ciúmes bobos. Mesmo assim, sendo um casal fofo e bem amoroso com um bom desenvolvimento.

Todas se não a maioria das listas de melhores protagonistas masculinos que vi, Ryan está incluído, ele tem uma personalidade maravilhosa, é muito equilibrado, maduro e empático, com certeza é do tipo que se existisse, eu iria querer ter amizade. Ele é todo tipo que embarca em ideias malucas para simplesmente ajudar, mesmo tendo ciência de tudo. Um exemplo, quando ele achar ter encontrado um possível casal lésbico, ele faz de todo o possível para proteger sem julgar e ainda sofre sentindo que não faz o suficiente para ajudar. Aliás este é outro ponto positivo, no personagem e no drama em si, a homosexualidade e outras questões são tratadas com respeito e naturalidade, sem exageros ou superficialidade.

A principal, muitas vezes me vi nela, como Army sei bem como é o mundo de fã, os julgamentos e as situações que vêm com tudo isso. Achei interessante como o drama deixa claro de como há preconceito na Coreia com isso, a ponto de influenciar até no emprego. Amei o lado fã, sim teve coisas que me incomodaram, mas o fato que vejo não sendo uma nativa. Muda a minha impressão de tudo, a última vez que vi sobre o lado fã foi no Replay.

Se for analisar o drama todo, com certeza é bom para quem quer romances maduros e com romances fofos, os principais tem muita química. Mas como nem tudo são flores, dois pontos que não gostei, foram os coadjuvantes ficaram muito jogados, o Nam Eun Gi até teve mais destaque, porém todas as situações se resolviam rapidamente sem muita profundidade e os dois últimos capítulos tiveram dramas desnecessários. Eles poderiam ter sido usados apenas para amarrar as coisas, sendo assim os dois episódios teriam melhor aproveitamento, até entendo um pouco de drama pelo lado do Ryan, mas senti que já tinham sido resolvidos em grande parte. Mesmo assim isso não muda o como este dorama é bom para quem quer o que eu disse anteriormente e como senti que o final foi satisfatório.

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An interesting story turned into standard pile of romcom tropes, with logic holes everywhere... Yeah it wrapped it up tightly in one of the lovely material wraps that Koreans use but it still had some bits leaking with a gap or two in the wrapping.

Disappointed.

Potential to be a lot more fun and also could have developed on her talented photography skills, since though not necessarily an 'artist' of the painting sort, her composition skills as a photographer were noted by both a renowned artist, Ryan Gold and renowned musician Shi An who would have been used to getting professional level photography done of him so her work was in that level.
Potentials of the starting story never realised. Strikes me direction/production team took safe route to end of story and ended up with one of his condensed milk coffee-less lattes, not even a hint of peppermint anywhere.

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I avoided watching this drama while it was airing and continued my avoidance after its completion simply because the synopsis and trailers misled me. I thought it was going to be some cringe-y drama about an obsessed fan-girl and a guy who stumbles across her secret and holds it against her maliciously...I never expected a healthy romance to bloom, which I was completely and pleasantly surprised by.

I really enjoyed the fan-girl portrayal - it was fun and kinda made me feel not so alone in having an obsession deemed inappropriate by the society I live in. What *did* unfortunately disappoint me though was that the fan-girling was mostly forgotten once the MCs got together and the celebrity never found out about her, which was kind of disappointing.

In regards to cliches, I didn't mind the cliched plot twist about the MCs childhoods, as many apparently did. It's a romantic comedy *shrugs* it's gonna have cliches. And in comparison to other rom-coms, the cliches included were well handled.

But what really needs to be noted and taken away from this drama wasn't the plot. It was the characters. Her Private Life is truly character driven and it's a mature watch. Forgiveness and acceptance were large topics in this drama that were handled very maturely with little to no drama, which was refreshingly clean and quick to watch. There were also quite a few steamy scenes (our main actors have some amazing chemistry) that I must sheepishly admit had me completely enamored. I also really appreciated that the "love triangle" wasn't unnecessarily drawn out or petty. It was neat and the second leads dropped out gracefully.

The ending....hmm...I think the last 2 episodes were necessary to tie-up loose ends, but they *did* drag quite a bit in comparison to the pace of the rest of the drama. I could have easily forgotten or lost interest to watch the last episode and still had a general idea of what happened in "the end." And for some reason, I get a Coffee Prince feel for the ending. *shrugs*

What kept me watching this drama in binge-style viewing over 3 days was the laugh-out loud comedy (I literally replayed certain hysterical scenes multiple times just to laugh again), the quick pace, and the extremely well selected actors for our MCs (their chemistry was through the roof and I couldn't help but eat it up! :*}). Her Private Life isn't a must-see and it *does* have its flaws, but enjoyable and infatuating just the same.


**Side Note:
I know that some people have often mentioned and criticized how the female MC's best friend treated and regarded her husband poorly as well as found the extreme fan-girls to be beyond extreme and borderline criminal. I acknowledge these 2 points and absolutely deem them valid. I would just like to say that they didn't stick out much to me because the genre of drama has certain tropes, characters, and cliches that I am personally expecting. Honestly, these 2 criticisms, while valid, are the much preferred plot devices compared to some other, more extreme and/or cruel plot devices I've seen employed in dramas before, which is why I didn't mention them in depth above.

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FLuffy office rom-com fun

An art gallery curator—posh, cultured, professional, etc.—is also a die-hard K-pop fan and photographer who runs a famous online fan site for a particular idol singer. Her job and her hobby clash violently, culture- and topic-wise, so she keeps them 100% separate and hidden from each other. Our female lead gets a new boss—cold, arrogant, aloof, the usual—from whom she desperately tries to keep her hobby a secret. But mostly she just ends up accidentally looking incompetent and revealing too much info—oops! Their paths start to intersect with her K-pop idol, with his dangerously passionate young fandom, and with other characters whose sole purpose is to create ridiculous levels of drama. A little deeper commentary around adoption, art, and abandonment, but mostly just a fun, sweet ride.

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Her Private Life is by no means a perfect drama, but I still liked it. Although I feel like it could've ended at episode 12 because the last four episodes felt like filler episodes.

The story is not solid and is quite unrealistic if you'd ask me, and the acting was so-so. I feel like they tried to make this drama similar to What's Wrong With Secretary Kim, but failed to do so.

Now if you'd ask me why I would recommend you to watch this drama, I'd say that Kim Jae Wook is the reason. His character is not an asshole unlike most men in K-drama world and I think that's enough reason to watch this for a breath of fresh air.

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It was an okay watch. I loved the first five or so episodes as it's fun, refreshing and the main lead's chemistry is on point. It explores what exteme fangirling is like in a light hearted way. But then it is extremely slow paced, boring at times and I fast forwarded last episodes as there is nothing much happening. It also have the second lead syndrome which I'm absolutely dreadful of after watching a lot of kdramas including it. Also I wish dramas stop including the factor that the leads are destined to be together as they knew each other from childhood and then something happens they loose their memories then they meet again when they are old. Common I think it's time to stop it seriously,! But overall the leads have great chemistry it feels so real at times and if you are looking for a light hearted romcom go for it!

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Romance for Days!

This was mostly enjoyable and this just made me realize how much Park Min Young is stellar. The whole cast was good but she is a star for a reason. She is efforlessly, funny, sweet, and likeable. Kim Jae Wook was pefectly cast as the Korean born American raised Ryan Gold. He and PMY have some of the best chemistry I've seen on screen. Their scenes together were funny and fire! The other standout in the acting category is Kim Sun Young she played director Ohm brillantly. I have never scene her in anything else but this made me a total fan. I also love the wardrobe departments bold choices for her character.

What this drama did right for me is that there was not too much drama or push and pull and it was the better for it. The leads worked thru their issues by talking instead of shutting down. I mean Duk Mi did do something stupid but it was wrapped up quickly so I'm forgiving her stupidy. They also, nail the obnoxious fan behavior to a T.

What I did not like was the unnecessary childhood trauma to an already traumatic situation re the leads. It didn't elevate the story at all; it didn't even make effing sense. But overall this series was just what I wanted and needed in the romance department!

8/22/23

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